Voiceless labiodental stop
| Voiceless labiodental stop | |
|---|---|
| p̪ | |
| p͆ | |
| IPA number | 101 408 |
| Encoding | |
| Entity (decimal) |
p̪ |
| Unicode (hex) | U+0070 U+032A |
| X-SAMPA |
p_d |
| Kirshenbaum |
p[ |
| Braille |
   |
The voiceless labiodental stop is a consonant sound produced like a [p], but with the lower lip contacting the upper teeth, as in [f]. This can be represented in the IPA as ⟨p̪⟩. A separate symbol not recognized by the IPA that is often seen, especially in Bantu linguistics, is the qp ligature ⟨ȹ⟩.
The voiceless labiodental stop is possibly not phonemic in any language, though see the entry on Shubi. However, it does occur allophonically. The XiNkuna dialect of Tsonga has affricates, [p̪͡f] and [b̪͡v] (that is, [ȹ͡f] and [ȸ͡v]), which unlike the bilabial-labiodental affricate [p͡f] of German, are purely labiodental.
One reason that this sound may be so rare is that a person with uneven upper teeth, or gaps between the teeth, will not be able to completely block the flow of air out of the mouth, and therefore will tend to produce a fricative [f] rather than a stop [p̪].
Features
Features of the voiceless labiodental stop:
- Its manner of articulation is occlusive, which means it is produced by obstructing airflow in the vocal tract. Since the consonant is also oral, with no nasal outlet, the airflow is blocked entirely, and the consonant is a stop.
- Its place of articulation is labiodental, which means it is articulated with the lower lip and the upper teeth.
- Its phonation is voiceless, which means it is produced without vibrations of the vocal cords.
- It is an oral consonant, which means air is allowed to escape through the mouth only.
- Because the sound is not produced with airflow over the tongue, the central–lateral dichotomy does not apply.
- The airstream mechanism is pulmonic, which means it is articulated by pushing air solely with the lungs and diaphragm, as in most sounds.
Occurrence
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greek | σάπφειρος | [ˈsap̪firo̞s̠] | 'sapphire' | See Modern Greek phonology | |
